Setting up Node.js & XAMPP/MySQL for MT4

In this short lesson, I will provide the instructions for setting up Node.js  and XAMPP so that you can run apps made with them. This lesson assumes that you are running this in a Windows environment.

Installation

1. Download and install Node.js Windows Installer (.msi) from http://nodejs.org/download/
   • Download the 32bit version if you have less than 4GB memory or 64bit if you have more.
   • You can install it with the default settings.
   • Now you need to add Node to system path.
     • Hold Win and press Pause (OR Right click on “My computer” > Click “Properties”)
     • Click Advanced System Settings.
     • Click Environment Variables.
     • Append ;C:\Program Files\nodejs\ to the Path variable (If it doesn’t exist, add a new one called Path and add C:\Program Files\nodejs\)
     • Note: C:\Program Files\nodejs\ should be where you installed Node.js
2. Download and install XAMPP from https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
   • Make sure you download the version that is for Windows and either PHP versions is fine.
3. Start the XAMPP control panel and start the Apache and MySQL services.
   • You can install with the default settings. No need to install FileZilla, Mercury and Tomcat
   • Quick note, I noticed that if you have Skype running, then Apache fails to start up. Then just close Skype and start the service again. Then you can start up Skype after all the services are running.
4. For some of the node modules, Python 2.7 is required. So let’s go ahead and set that up as well.
   • Download the Windows x86 MSI Installer (2.7.3) from https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.7.3#download
   • Install this with the default settings and location of C:\Python27\
   • Now we need to add Python to your system variables so Node knows where it is.
     • Hold Win and press Pause (OR Right click on “My computer” > Click “Properties”)
     • Click Advanced System Settings.
     • Click Environment Variables.
     • Append ;C:\python27 to the Path variable (If it doesn’t exist, add a new one called Path and add C:\python27)
     • Note: C:\python27 should be where you installed Python
5. This is an optional step. Certain modules require C/C++ compilers to be installed. So if you need them, then follow the below steps
   • Windows XP/Vista/7:
     • Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2010 (Express version works well)
     • For 64-bit builds of node and native modules you will also need the Windows 7 64-bit SDK
       • If the install fails, try uninstalling any C++ 2010 x64&x86 Redistributable that you have installed first.
     • If you get errors that the 64-bit compilers are not installed you may also need the compiler update for the Windows SDK 7.1
   • Windows 7/8:
     • Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2012 for Windows Desktop (Express version works well)

Next steps

• You may have to install necessary modules for Node.js. To install them. Open up your Windows Command Prompt (Hold WinKey+R > Input “cmd” > Hit Enter) OR (search for cmd in Start Menu search and open the cmd.exe)
• It’s always best to keep all of your node files in one place. I keep my Node files in C:\Node. So you can create this folder. Then in the windows command prompt, change directory to be in C:\Node. To do so, enter cd c:\Node and hit enter.
• Now install the needed modules with npm by entering npm install module_name
• You can get the list of required modules by looking at the Node.js file that you want to run. These modules are listed at the top of the file as var something = require("some_module");
• To run a node app, simply enter node app_file_name.js
• You will also need to get familiar with the use of phpMyAdmin in XAMPP in order to setup databases and tables. You can take a look at some of the tutorials in YouTube such as the following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7c5zMk8cx4

You can now use the Node.js MQL4 bridge to communicate between MT4 and Node.js (http://penguintraders.com/groups/node-js-mql4-development/)

Lastly, if you encounter any issues or have any questions, you can post a comment below or discuss them in the development forum http://penguintraders.com/forums/forum/development/